LITTLE ROCK – St. Vincent Medical Center/North in Sherwood has joined a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)-led network of hospitals to provide life-saving emergency care for stroke patients in Arkansas.

Called Arkansas SAVES (Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), the program uses a high-tech video communications system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke victims 24 hours a day. The real-time video communication enables a stroke neurologist from Little Rock or Fort Smith to authorize use of a powerful blood thinner within the critical three-hour period following the first signs of stroke.

“This partnership gives St. Vincent Medical Center/North an opportunity to provide a higher level of quality life-saving care that the citizens of Sherwood and the surrounding area need,” said Randy Cason, administrator/CEO of St. Vincent Medical Center/North. “We’re committed to helping reduce the number of deaths and disabilities caused by stroke due to the lack of immediate diagnosis and treatment. We’re also excited to be the first hospital in central Arkansas to partner with UAMS, giving our emergency department immediate access to neurologists to assist us with the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.”

The SAVES program is made possible by partnerships between the UAMSCenter for Distance Health, the state Department of Human Services and Sparks Regional Health System in Fort Smith. The program was established with a one-year, $6.1 million DHS Medicaid contract.

“This is an important part of UAMS’ mission – reaching out to all areas of the state and helping local physicians identify patients with stroke and improve the patients’ outcomes,” said Salah Keyrouz, M.D., the Arkansas SAVES medical director and assistant professor of neurology at UAMS.

The most recent statistics from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Arkansas had 1,847 stroke-related deaths in 2005, which dwarfs Arkansas’ other major causes of death. Arkansas ranks third highest among all states in stroke deaths, with 61 per 100,000 residents. Only Alabama and Tennessee had a higher number. The nationwide direct and indirect cost of medical and institutional care of permanently disabled stroke victims was $57.9 billion in 2006.

“The Arkansas SAVES program will save lives and money because if stroke patients get the treatment they need within three hours, they have a much greater chance of living without a major, costly disability,” said Julie Hall-Barrow, Ed.D., education director for the UAMSCenter for Distance Health.

“Being a partner in this program, with neurologists who can quickly assess a stroke patient, will greatly assist our emergency department in treating the citizens of North Pulaski and Lonoke counties,” said Justin White, M.D., medical director of St. Vincent Medical Center/North Emergency Department.

While many stroke patients are rushed to their local hospital emergency room, they still are at high risk of death or permanent disability. That’s because emergency rooms aren’t likely to be staffed by a neurologist who can diagnose the type of stroke and whether to treat it with t-PA, the blood-clot dissolving agent used for ischemic stroke. Although potentially life-saving for people with an ischemic stroke, t-PA may be detrimental if the patient has a hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into surrounding brain tissue.

The Arkansas SAVES system relies on the state Health Department’s hospital preparedness high-speed video network transmission lines that provide the live, video communication necessary to link an on-call neurologist with a local hospital physician who is caring for a stroke patient.

The SAVES program will continue adding hospitals across Arkansas in the coming months, said Curtis Lowery, M.D., director of the UAMSCenter for Distance Health.

Since the program began Nov. 1, 68 stroke patients have been consulted by SAVES neurologists and 11 have received the t-PA drug.

“Short of being able to prevent strokes, which should be our ultimate quest, this is the best model program we could use to treat strokes,” Keyrouz said.

He noted that high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, age, gender, high cholesterol and lack of exercise are all risk factors for stroke. It’s also important that the public be aware of the signs and symptoms of a stroke, such as sudden weakness, numbness, unsteady gait, and visual and speech problems.

In addition to Keyrouz, two other neurologists make up the team: James Schmidley, M.D., professor of neurology at UAMS, and Margaret Tremwel, M.D., a neurologist at Sparks Regional Health System in Fort Smith.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a new 540,000-square-foot hospital, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ AreaHealthEducationCenters throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.